The Adventures of G4!!!

HOLY SMOKES INTERNET, IT'S BEEN AWHILE!  TroyToTheMaxExtreme here with another important message.

About maybe a month or so ago, I was commissioned to draw an art piece for someone at my current place of employment.  She heard through the grapevine that I was into comics and superheroes, as well as could draw fairly well.  I suppose that was right up her alley because the drawing was for her son, AND HE LOVES SUPERHEROES!  Well I jumped at the chance to do it because I haven't drawn anything in a long while, plus she said she'd pay me just about anything I wanted for my time and effort.  Awesome.

Below is the progression of this said drawing.  I hope you all enjoy...


This was my initial design jumping right into the drawing.  The made up character "G4" was my co-worker's son, she asked to be in the drawing as well as their dog.  Since she said his favorite character is Nightwing, I thought throwing a Nightwing mask on the dog would be a great addition.  This drawing kind of fell apart.  I jumped right in without really placing anything and everything was disjointed to me.  I mean character's legs couldn't even fit on the page!  I did end up adding Nightwing and Spider-Man to this before I scrapped it and considered it a warm up exercise. 

The next day I sat down and just started over.  I took more heavily to reference, rather than just memory, and this is what I came up with for the G4 character.  It's probably my favorite part of the entire new drawing.

Now, when I get drawing and into the zone hours can pass in what seems like minutes.  I usually plug into some earbuds and some podcasts (or just as often movie scores), and just hit that sweet spot.  With that said I sat down and drew for 6 or 7 hours that night until about 4 am, and ended the session with this next picture.  I wish I would have taken more pictures because Nightwing made some drastic changes as I progressed.  I was going to leave his entire costume, just the linework, and no black fill.  I already thought the drawing needed more pop to it so I filled in his costume leaving highlights.  Now this was scary because I really liked what I had and I'm doing it old school with real ink and no computer touch ups.  And to be honest, I'm not really all that good with inking in the first place.  But I think it turned out pretty well and as I finished with their dog, which as you can see changed from a Nightwing-ish hero to a Krypto type, I was satisfied and headed off to bed.

The next session I sat down and started adding Batman as well as another canine.  Earlier that day, the client said that "G4's" birthday was coming up and they got a new puppy.  She asked if it would be any trouble to add that puppy to what I had.  I said no probably not, then got to thinking where am I going to add this puppy?  I think I squeezed him in there pretty well.  As for Batman, I've always been a fan of a more scary looking Batman.  Pointy, you could say.  The longer ears and gauntlets, as well as when artists draw the "cape horns".  So I add those to about every Batman I draw.

Here is a closer look with some more inking done...

And here is what I finished with at the end of that session.  Both Batman and the new pup fleshed out.

After some deliberation, I blackend up Batman's gauntlets, as well as added more detail to the cowl.  I will probably add more detail to Batman as the drawing progresses, as he is front and center.

The next day I sit down and start Superman.  Here you see I'm roughing him out and don't even have his entire body done yet.  His face also went through an incarnation before this one, as I tried to get a likeness to Christopher Reeve, but beefier.  Here is a detail of the pencils...

And here is how he fits in with the crowd.

Here he is starting to get inked.  You can see I also add more to Batman.

And here is Supes primarily done being inked.  I believe I go back to him as well for a touch up or two.

Although G4 is a DC fan, he also likes Spider-Man as well.  Ol' Webhead here was in a different pose when I first started that I couldn't get to fit tucked behind Superman.  I erased him and started over.  Here he is right before I got into really inking the fella.

And here he is complete and with the whole gang.

Now I had room for one more character to balance out the drawing.  I was reluctant to put another "Bat-Family" character in there, because G4 makes for a great Robin type himself, as well as there is only one other character that isn't DC in there, Spider-Man.  But as I thought it over, what is Batman and Nightwing without an actual Robin.  Also, the Tim Drake Robin costume is my favorite one anyway.  Here he is as the pencils get finished and the inking starts.

Here is the complete drawing, and how I sent it in to my co-worker.  I'm pretty proud of this piece, not only because it was a larger drawing and I think I filled the space well, but because it got me back into drawing.  I hope you all enjoyed this little guided tour as much as I liked drawing it.

The Comic That Never Was...

Hello Internet.  Glad we could be together again.

So awhile ago, a friend and I started making a comic.  It was entitled, "What The...", and it was in the genre of horror.  Now, I'm not a huge fan of horror comics, but nonetheless I obliged and went along with the idea.  
As the project came to fruition, more and more became confusing to me.  I would only get a couple pages at a time, and the pages I did get, things seemed to be happening at random.  In fact, I had to lie and say I had pages done just so I could possibly see what was coming up next so that I may foreshadow some things in my artwork, and yet, it still didn't make that much of a difference.  Now don't get me wrong, I think the work I did do on this project was some of the best comic illustration I've ever done.  But alas, the project fell apart.  Not getting pages in to me was a big thing, and the fact of, even when I did ask this person what's going on in the story, I couldn't even get an answer.  It seemed that everything was being made up as it went along.

Then came the part of, instead of having this be a single issue (which is what we first discussed) it was now going to be an entire trade paperback.  Maybe even around 100 pages he or she said.  That's when I was like, okay, enough.  I'm not going to be wasting my nights and weekends on a project that I have NO idea where it's going, and also one that is going to be 100+ pages that I fully pencil, ink, and color, to get nothing out of it but carpel tunnel.

All of this came to a head and I left the project behind.  I have since met with this person on several occasions, and they bring up that they'd wished we could have finished "What The...".  Well tough titties.  I need more stability than that ol' chum.

The one thing that's good about it, is that I DO have these pages of original artwork to show you.  And here they are.  I have a cover that's colored, and the rest are interior pages.  The last 2 I have up there would have been a double page spread.  I did run out of ink when I was doing this, so that's also another reason the project got scrapped.  Can you guess where it happened?

Well that's what I have for you this day.  The comic that never happened.  Now if I can just get motivated to get mine off the ground I would be a happy camper.

Le Tired...

Oh boy, has the last few weeks of my life been exhausting, Internet.  My new job is more physical than what I've worked before, so when I get home (if I even get to go home) I'm pooped, and we've been out and traveling every weekend for the last few weeks.  Yeesh.  

I've have planning my wedding on my plate, as well as trying to get home every once in awhile to see what my 2 evil cats have destroyed.  Plus its hot out.

I've been working with PKP Films on stuff here and there which is always fun.  Check them out.  They have a couple projects always going on at any given time.

My best bud JT and myself are really trying to get our podcast off the ground, so we've been doing shows regularly and promoting that.  We may have a few good ideas coming soon.

Plus, it's frickin Summer time, so I just want to get out, drink some brews, and tan my thighs.

When I first made this, I tried to make time once a week to update this, but I can't even make it home lately to get to it.  Hopefully soon, things will slow down, and I can do something creative for all you Internet dwellers to troll over.

Alright folks, that's all I got.  Laterz Internets. 

Heroes and Their Abilities...

Hello again Internet.  I'm going to delve into my mind a bit.  Won't you join me?

So I've long thought about the idea of super powers or abilities.  And boy, are there been many of them.  But really, how many of them are there?  Right now, I can only really say, in my opinion, there are 5 different forms of super powers.

"Woah, what am I thinking", you may be...uh...thinking.  But let me explain.

I've broken down the categories into the following...

• Enhanced Mental and Physical Abilities
• Biological Change
• Psychic Abilities
• Energy Projection
• Time Based Abilities

Enhanced Mental and Physical, is everything that the human body and mind can already do, it's just that the super abilities take them a step further.  (Super strength, enhanced speed, super intellect, invulnerability, etc.)

Biological Change, would be something the body does, that it normally can't do at all.  (Shapeshifting, poison secretion, growing/shrinking, duplicating)

Psychic Abilities, would be what you would imagine them to be.  Powers that use the mind, in a state that a brain can't normally do.  (Mind control, telekinesis, telepathy, flight, illusions)

Energy Projection, is some form of energy, that was held or sent through the body, and discharged in any way, shape, or form.  (Flame, force fields, sound, light, kinetic energy)

And lastly, Time Based Abilities.  Any ability that can go against the grain of time.  I couldn't figure out how to categorize this in any other category.  (Time travel, slowing time, stopping time)

Now that you have my opinions on what these groups are, I'm going to give some scenarios and examples, fleshing out my theory.

Take the Fantastic Four.  Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, and The Thing.  

• Mr. Fantastic falls into 2 of these categories.  He has a genius intellect, which would be an enhancement of the human body and mind, and his biology can change as well.  He essentially shapeshifts his body.  He can take any form he chooses, as well as, stretch his limbs.  Who's to say that isn't like the shape shifting Skrulls he so often encounters?
• Invisible Girl can fall into a few categories, depending on how you take her abilities.  She has energy projection, because she can make platforms on which to stand, or to bubble herself and others into, but it's her invisibility that is really interesting.  Is it mental or physical?  Does she just project mentally to others that she is simply not there?  Or is it a physical change in her biology that refracts the light around her, making her appear not there?  Another could argue that it could also be another form of energy projection, making light refract around her as well.
• The Human Torch, of course has energy projection to expel all of the flame from his body, but what makes him fly?  If it's the science that heat rises, could he control his flight through updrafts of heat?  Or does his flight manifest itself through some latent psychic telekinesis that he may not even be aware of?  If that's the case, could he fly without "flaming on"?
• And of course The Thing.  While his appearance is a change in his biology, through some sort of shape shifting beyond his control, his other abilities are purely physical.  He has super strength and stamina, that is above a normal human being.  He is also a skilled pilot.  Not a super ability, mind you, but its something that not every Joe Blow on Yancy Street can do.

Now these were just some examples of just 4 heroes.  There are a thousand other heroes out there and I bet you with a little thought, can be categorized, in these 5 groups.  The topic is open for discussion, and I would love to chat about it.  Hit me up here, or you can chat me up on Facebook.  Thanks for stopping by, Internet.

But before you go...

I would also like to promote the podcast I am apart of Off Topic while I have you.  Check it out.  We talk about stuff like this, movies, TV, anything cool in the news, booze, whatever!  Like us, and listen in on past episodes, and tune in every other week to new shows!

Back at it!

So I've had a few days off and rather than just sit on you, Internet, I think I'm going to be productive.  A little bit.  Let me just listen to a few podcasts first...



...hours later...



Alright, good I'm ready.  Hold on, Facebook is blowin' up.



...hours later...



Oh you're still here?  Well good news.  I totally started drawing my comic again.  While it may not be a whole lot I'm showing you here, I've been outlining the initial script, and doing thumbnails of the more busy pages, while finding references for characters, on you, Internet.

really shitty camera phone quality

What you see here is a face test, a warm-up for me to get back into drawing, and for me to test out my new inking markers.  As you can see, my white marker totally sucks, but this is somewhat of the style I'm going for.  This is MY house style.  Anything I've done previously, I did a lot of reference and light box work, but it's not my actual style.  I still really like it, but it's not how I just sit down and crank stuff out.  So hopefully I can keep on it and really get stuff done 'round here.

  

I also have some more news for you.  Last year I was commissioned to do the cover to a local fair book/program.  I was all for it.  I asked if there was a theme or main attraction to the event and the fair board said there's going to be a beauty pageant.  That's all I had to run with.  So I came up with this...

shitty camera phone quality

I tell ya whut, they didn't go for it.  Apparently, it was a young ladies beauty pageant.  Like, really young ladies.  Like, 8 to 16 year olds.  So the cover went over like a lead balloon.  And not only that, I procrastinated on it and had to do another one, like the day it was due.  I actually had to leave a birthday party to work on it.  So anyhow, here is the one I came up with last minute...

better camera phone quality

This one went over much better.  And this one I used no reference either.  I hemmed and hawed about the previous one to make it a joke, to make it aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and so on.  This one I just sat down and went to town on it.  While it may not have the humor of the previous one, I actually like it better!  So I guess procrastination pays off!

Well moving on to this year, they asked me back to do it again.  Not a huge story on this one since I actually did it before it was due and I did it all on Illustrator, so it came together really quick.  And since I didn't hear anything back from it yet, I assume it's all good.  I guess this year this community fair has a Hollywood theme.  I don't really get it, but whatevs.  Here's what I came up with.

not taken with shitty camera phone quality

So yeah, it's simple, but looking at it you totally get what is trying to get across.  Hollywood.  Boom yeah.

Before I go, check out a good friend of mine Dave Tucker's blog.  While he may not post stuff all the time, (sound familiar?) he did just put out a synopsis of an independent movie he, myself, and many others worked on for a while and debuted last Halloween.  He breaks each part of the film down and gives it a directors commentary, behind the scenes spin on it.  It's really interesting.

On the subject of movies, I will also be reprising my role as Leonard "Whiskers" St. Elliot, starting soon for Murder Party 2: The After Party.  More on that as it develops.

Also, another project that has wavered my attention to updating this, is my friend and I's podcast called Off Topic.  Both he and I have been pretty hard at making this show great and doing as many shows as we can. We also both moderate the Facebook page, and update it as much as we can, without giving the whole show away.  Check it out!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule Internet.  Y'all come back now.

Drawin's 'n' Doodles

So at my current place of employment, I have the opportunity to listen to my own music, via iPod or what-have-you, and lately have been listening to podcasts while I work.  I just listened to my own podcast (not that I'm that shallow) and I remembered that I had a little treat for you Internet.  

At my last job, when I had a few seconds to myself, I would find a piece of scratch paper and just doodle what was on my mind.  And if it was semi-decent, I would keep it in my "Important Stuff" Folder.  And when I left there, I took all of those doodles and put them in a box.

So here you go Internet.  Here's what was in that box.

A creation of mine, Power Pig and possibly and evil "Bizarro" version.

Leonard "Whiskers" St. Elliot / Funky Sinister Eye

Funny Face / Superman Crest (w/ crayon)

Power Pig slugging Mr. Pig

Snowman / Laughing Skull

Apparently I liked Savage Dragon that day / 5372

Gross / Power Pig surprised

So yeah, that's what I found in the "Important Stuff" Folder.  I know there were probably hundreds more drawings that were probably thrown away and discarded.  Hell I was there for 5 or so years.  But yeah, nice way to pass the time eh?

Laters Internets.

F.U.Hulu

Ok Internet, what's the friggin' deal?!  So I'm a subscriber to Hulu +.  I pay the whatever it is a month, so I can see whatever I want, that is already free on Hulu anyway.  So I'm the sucker there.  But you know what is total bullshit?  I don't even know what I really pay for.  Anything I watch on Hulu + anyway, is "web only" content, which still doesn't make any sense to me, because EVERYTHING HULU OFFERS IS FROM THE DAMN INTERNET!  It shouldn't matter what you watch it on, you still have to watch it through the "web", just streaming through something else.

Regardless, I was watching my "web only" content today, when I came across this...

So essentially, what they are saying is, if you want to watch this, just buy a television subscription.  Fuck you.  I want to watch my shows, on my TV, through my device.  When I can't, I'm told to watch it at my PC.  Then, when I can't do that, I'm told, "Well, just call your cable/satellite provider to watch your shit.  Up your ass consumer."

Eat shit Hulu +.  Netflix is better anyway.